LSEL. 



Author 



Title 



Imprint 



18—47372-2 



IM 







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-A3 



PRINTED BY E. MORGAN AND CO. 

Power Press. 



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PREFACE. 

Until within a few years, the cultiva- 
tion of the Bee was found to be a profitable 
business west of the mountains. Almost 
every farmer had his half dozen stands, 
yielding him each year, as much honey as 
he could use in his own family, with a 
bucketful or two to spare for some less for- 
tunate neighbor, or to trade off at the store. 
They required but little care to furnish such 
a supply, increasing in their sycamore gum, 
about as fast as their owner desired. But 
now the case is different — the Bee-grower 
has an enemy to contend with, that requires 
the exercise of all his skill to overcome, and 
will even then prove the victor, if allowed 
to gain any advantage. He has, at the same 
time, an additional incentive to exertion, in 
the increased consumption of honey and 
wax. Populous cities have sprung up in 
every direction, creating a continually in- 
creasing demand for produce of all kinds ; 



VI PREFACE. 

and our western and southern people are 
such lovers of the good things of this life, 
and so liberal withal, that the limited and 
daily decreasing supply of that exquisite 
luxury, honey, has raised it to such a price, 
as to warrant our farmers in using every ex- 
ertion to protect and nourish its producers. 
It is with a view to guiding and assisting 
them in these exertions, that this little work 
is published. Sundry treatises have ap- 
peared, from time to time, in the east, but 
are all defective as applied to our climate, 
and to the habits and views of our farmers. 
However well adapted fifty dollar palaces 
and five dollar patented-permissions-to- 
erect-a-bee-hive, may suit there, they are 
any thing but acceptable with us. Our 
Buckeyes, Hoosiers, and Corn Crackers, 
would as soon think of paying for permis- 
sion to make a sugar trough or an axe han- 
dle, as a bee-hive! Even our bees them- 
selves seem dissatisfied with such complex 
affairs — since they have "moved out west," 
they have proved themselves thorough-go- 
ing Republicans ; and though yielding a 
willing obedience to the laws of their own 
commonwealth, they yet offer a determined 
resistance to any dictation from without ! 



PREFACE. Vll 

Whatever may be done elsewhere, we can- 
not force them into measures here. On 
such an attempt being made, they either 
rebel at once and " clear out" to the woods, 
or dwindle away and die. 

By adopting the simple and economical 
plan, explained in the following pages, it is 
believed that all these difficulties will be 
overcome — the object of writing a distinctly 
western work, has been kept in view 
throughout. 

THE AUTHOR. 
Cincinnati, May, 1841. 






INTRODUCTION. 

It is strange that amongst the many 
works which have been published, treating 
of the management of the Honey Bee, and 
laying down plans for rendering them pro- 
ductive and of easy culture, so little atten- 
tion should have been paid, in any of them, 
to the natural habits of the insect. Their 
authors seem entirely to have lost sight of 
the fact, that this irascible and sagacious 
creature has an instinctive plan of opera- 
tions granted by its Creator, which it has 
followed, without the slightest variation, 
since the world began ; and that though it 
may be assisted and directed in its natural 
course of procedure, it must be found ex- 
tremely difficult, if not altogether impossible, 
to force it out of that course into one di- 
rectly opposite. Why they should thus seek 
to compel the Bee to follow a plan of ope- 

2 ix 



X INTRODUCTION. 

rations contrary to its natural habits, with 
the view of rendering its labors more avail- 
able, when by merely guiding and directing 
it in those labors, they can be assured of 
success, is rather inexplicable. 

Bee-breeders generally, seem to have an 
idea, that the more complicated and expen- 
sive the plan on which they go to work, 
the greater is the prospect of success. They 
do not consider that in a state of nature, 
when a swarm of bees takes possession of 
a hollow tree, or the cleft of a rock, they 
commence their work by cleaning out their 
selected habitation, and after carefully ce- 
menting with Propolis, (a kind of hard wax 
which they use for such purposes,) every 
crevice admitting light or an undue quan- 
tity of air, and contracting their entrance to 
a proper size, they beginTb form their comb 
at the extreme top and go on continually 
working downwards ; and so long as they 
have room below to form new cells in 
which to breed their young, they only use 
their cells once for this purpose, afterwards 
storing honey in them. These cells they 
then abandon, unless when their contents 
are required for the support of the colony, 
and carry on their operations lower down. 



INTRODUCTION. XI 

It is only by keeping those facts clearly 
in view, and basing upon them his plans, 
that the Apiarist can possibly hope for 
success. 



BEE BREEDING 

Before proceeding to describe the sub- 
tended hive, or to enter into particulars 
as to the proper method of managing bees, 
it may be well to give a few remarks .on 
the practice of our Western bee-breeders, 
and on the various plans that have been at 
different times adopted, showing wherein 
they have been objectionable. 

The Honey-bee has always been pro- 
nounced by Naturalists, a native of Europe 
and not of this continent. How it came 
here, it is unnecessary to speculate upon — 
suffice it, that it is generally believed, that 
in the first settling of the country, it was 
not to be found. The Indians have a tra- 
dition that they had no bees until the 
white man came; but from the rapidity 
with which they increased and spread, they 
were soon taught to look upon them as 
proofs of the approach of the whites. For 
a long time they only took precedence in 
their inroads on the wilderness, by a few 
years ; but by the time they reached the 

13 



14 

Ohio, such was their spread, that when the 
first surveyors entered the Western Reserve, 
in 1796, Bee-trees were much more nume- 
rous than they are now. They may have 
been introduced by the French settlers at 
Marietta or Vincennes : but of this we have 
no proof. 

One of the early settlers of Kentucky re- 
lated to me, that their first stock of Bees 
south of the Kentucky river, originated in. 
a swarm which was taken from an almost 
inaccessible bluff. Some of the settlers 
north of that river had a few stands ; but 
south of it, they had none, until some hun- 
ters observing where a single bee was 
feeding, made their arrangements for finding 
its home; which, after some time, they did, 
at a distance of three miles, and wi^ much 
labor, secured the swarm. 

In a heavily timbered country, they mul- 
tiply more slowly than in one that is more 
open. In the neighborhood of the prairies 
and barrens their spread is greater; there 
they multiply with immense rapidity. Their 
supply of food is abundant, and is continued 
through the whole summer, from a constant 
succession of flowers; whilst in a woodland 
country, their principal supply is from the 
blossoms of the trees, which last but a very 
few days. 

Bee-hunting is a favorite pursuit with 
many of our woodsmen; and in the prairie 
regions, is quite a profitable one. Those 



15 

who follow it, do so in several different 
ways, and at various seasons of the year. 
In early spring, on days when the sun 
shines out bright and warm, the bees are 
induced to venture forth from their winter 
quarters; but no sooner have they left the 
tree, than. they become chilled and drop to 
the ground. At this time, the hunters are 
on the search and discover either the dead 
bees, or the excrement they have dropped 
on the snow, and are thus guided to the 
spot. In April and May they are found in 
the sugar camps, or on the maple stumps in 
a clearing, and may then be watched and 
their course found: so soon as that is well 
ascertained, it may be followed without 
hesitation, as they fly home, when loaded, 
in a directly straight line. At this season 
of the year, the woods are so still, so few 
sounds to be heard, of insect or of bird, that 
the bees may be discovered by the noise 
they make. If not, the hunter provides 
himself with some honey in the comb, 
which being placed in a small box, with a 
slide top to it, is set on a stump or on the 
ground, for them to feed from. So soon 
as two or three have entered the box, it is 
shut, and they are gently carried forward 
in the direction of their course. They are 
then allowed to go, after marking them, by 
dusting on their backs a very little powdered 
chalk. They will soon return, and the hun- 
ter judges of the distance they have gone, by 



16 

the length of time they were absent. Again 
he carries them on their course, and again 
he lines them, that is, marks the direction 
of their flight; thus we speak of a bee line, 
as a perfectly straight course. If in thus 
carrying them forward, he passes the bee- 
tree, they will not return immediately, but 
have to search some time before they again 
find out the honey, and when they then 
take their flight loaded, it is seen that they 
take an opposite direction. 

Some bee hunters have reduced their fa- 
vorite pursuit almost to a science, and can 
line a bee home, with the greatest ease and 
certainty. It is generally done after the 
leaf has dropped in the fall, or early in the 
spring. The hunter continues his search 
until he has found all the bee-trees within 
his district, and then prepares to reap his 
harvest of honey. If the land belongs to 
the Government, little ceremony is used — 
Uncle Sam is never consulted in such ca- 
ses: but if it has been entered and the pur- 
chaser is within reach, his permission must 
be had for cutting the trees. It is rare that 
a bee-hunter's mark is disregarded ; where 
a feeling of honor does not protect his re- 
cognized rights, the laws of the frontier are 
found to be strict and summary. The trees 
are cut down in such a way, as that by 
falling them on others, they come to the 
ground as gently as possible. The bees 
seem stunned by the fall, and seldom offer 



17 

much resistance ; but if they do, a smoke is 
raised, which enables the hunter to continue 
his depredations with impunity. Those 
bees that happen to be abroad when the 
tree falls, keep circling round in the air, in 
search of their lost home, and seem alto- 
gether bewildered. The comb is generally 
much broken up, and the honey is seldom 
saved in the most careful and cleanly man- 
ner; yet it is brought down the Missouri 
and Mississippi in such quantity as to form 
quite an article of trade. It is strong and 
high flavored, and is never so fine as that 
made by domesticated bees, in a cultivated 
country. 

The early settlers, when cutting down 
bee-trees, used every effort to save them 
entire, that that part which contained the 
swarm, might be sawed off and carried 
home, to form the commencement of an 
apiary. This they were frequently able to 
do, and thus gradually formed a little stock. 
In those days they had no difficulty in 
raising and keeping bees; they continued to 
increase and thrive with but little care. It 
was not necessary to do more, than to put 
the young swarm in a sycamore gum, hav- 
ing a few half inch auger holes bored in it, 
through which rods were run, from side to 
side, to support the comb; on one end was 
nailed a piece of rough plank, and the other 
set carelessly on a bench, the bees finding 
abundance of outlets in every direction. In 

3 



18 




this habitation they would remain three or 
four years, receiving no attention and but 
little shelter; some few of the swarms thrown 
off each season, would be saved, but by far 
the greater part allowed to go off. When 
the proprietor wanted honey, he dug a hole 
in the ground, into which he threw a shov- 
el-full of hot ashes; and after sprinkling 
over them a handful of brimstone, he turned 
the gum mouth down, as a recent writer 
quaintly observes, "over this pit of fire and 
brimstone, though the inmates merit, by 
their industry, something better than this 
worst of punishments/' 

This horrible practice is, even to this day, 
a common one in many parts of the country. 
It is as absurd as it is cruel — not only are 
the lives of many thousands of those indus- 
trious laborers sacrificed, but Jhe honey is 



19 

almost ruined. It is impregnated with the 
fumes of the sulphur and of the burning bees, 
to such an extent, as to give it an abomina- 
ble rank taste and smell, which it never 
loses ; and if we add to this the pungent 
odor of the poison, invariably ejected by 
the bees when in the agonies of death, and 
which, in such a wholesale slaughter, lite- 
rally covers the comb, one would think it 
would be sufficient to debar any bee-grower 
from following such a barbarous practice. 
We are in hopes that if they once adopt 
the subtended hive, self-interest will pre- 
vent them destroying their bees unneces- 
sarily. 

Amongst the first improvements on the 
gum, was the rough plank box, about three 
feet in length, by fifteen to eighteen inches 
in diameter; and the making of it was gen- 
erally neglected by the improvidence of our 
early settlers, until the young swarm had 
gone off and settled, when of course, there 
was little time for neatness or care. 

In this great box, the young swarm was 
hived, and in it they were exposed to the 
winter's cold — a mere handful, when com- 
pared with the space allotted them. The 
chances were greatly against their being 
able to keep up a sufficient degree of 
warmth the first winter, so that they were 
often killed by the cold — the owner anathe- 
mizing his luck! The same sized swarm 
would have had a much better chance of 



20 

living over their first winter, in an equally 
large domicile in a hollow tree, a cavity in 
a rock, or even in a good, thick gum; they 
would there have been protected from the 
cold by the thickness of the walls of their 
habitation. Their increase, too, by swarm- 
ing was small, when furnished with such a 
superabundance of space. 

The industrious German population of 
the West, have always been our principal 
bee-breeders, and were the first to try dif- 
ferent plans for removing honey without 
destroying the insect. This they usually 
did, by either turning up the hive or re- 
moving the top, and cutting out what they 
wanted. Such a plan is always objection- 
able — it is dangerous to the operator; hurt- 
ful to the bees, inasmuch as a great many 
become clogged with the honey which 
runs from the broken cells, and they perish; 
this not un frequently occurs to the Queen, 
occasioning very often the loss of the 
swarm: and it irritates and annoys the bees, 
and when this is the case, they never work 
well, nor do much good. 

Some tried boxes attached to one side, or 
set on top of the main hive, which were 
removed after they became filled with 
honey, and replaced when emptied, to be 
again filled. 

The objections to these plans are numer- 
ous, without taking into consideration the 
harbor they afford to that pest, the moth. 



21 

The principal one is, that it is requiring of 
the bee to work contrary to its natural hab- 
its, which it never will continue to do for 
any length of time. 

When left to itself to seek a home in the 
woods, it pitches upon a hollow tree or a 
crevice in the cliffs, and commences at the 
extreme top, there forming its first comb. 
As the cells are formed, the Queen Mother 
deposites her eggs in them, regularly using 
the new ones for this purpose, and that only 
once ; she rarely places an egg in the same 
cell a second time, so long as there is space 
for the formation of new ones. So soon as 
the young bee leaves the cell, the workers 
clean it out, removing everything but the 
nymphal robe, or white covering within 
which the larvae underwent its transforma- 
tion, which is pressed down to the bottom 
and covered over with a thin coat of wax. 
This, of course, diminishes the size of the 
cell, which is then used for the reception of 
honey; while the succession of eggs, as be- 
fore remarked, the Queen's instinct teaches 
her to deposite in the newly formed, full 
sized cells. So long as their supply of food 
is abundant, and sufficient space is allowed 
them below ) they go on increasing; but to 
what extent has not yet been determined. 
It seems probable that there must be a limit 
to the procreative powers of the Queen; and 
as no two queens can exist, in a state of 
freedom, in the same hive, all plans which 



22 

are intended to prevent their following their 
natural mode of increase — by swarming — . 
must end in failure. 

They thus go on, as is their habit both in 
a wild and domesticated state, working al- 
ways downward,leaving their winter's store 
of honey at the top of the hive, and congre- 
gating with their Queen, round those cells 
which contain their eggs and larvae. 

It was his observation of this fact, that 
such was their invariable practice, that led 
the French writer, to whom 1 am indebted 
for the first idea of the subtended hive, and 
who originated the two-storied hive, to 
adopt the plan of adding his boxes below, 
and allowing the bees to follow their natu- 
ral course. In his treatise, he remarks, that 
" it is evident, if we intend to rob bees, thus 
lodged in a hollow tree or cleft of a rock, 
without injuring them, we must attack the 
store at the top. There the combs are easily 
removed, because the bees have left them, 
and are busily engaged in the lower part 
of the hollow or crevice, and do not even 
perceive the theft; nor do they suffer by be- 
ing deprived of these upper combs, which 
have become superfluous, by the new stock 
of provisions, which they go on, instinctively 
accumulating, in their uninterrupted de- 
scending operations. Here the whole se- 
cret of nature is laid open — how to rob them 
without doing them the least injury!" 

Those who have adopted the plan of add- 



23 

ing an empty box on top of the permanent 
hive, think they have made the same dis- 
covery, and that they are acting up to it. 
But they overlook, in their method, several 
most important facts — that it compels the 
bees to breed, year after year, in the same 
box; and of course they must use the same 
cells for the repeated hatchings, which thus 
become continually diminished in size, by 
the addition of two or three nymphal robes 
in a season; until the difference between 
the bees from such a hive and from a thri- 
ving young one, is apparent to the most 
careless observer. Then, when so managed, 
they breed but little ; the swarms occasion- 
ally thrown off are weak and inefficient, and 
rarely exist through the first winter unas- 
sisted. 

In a work recently published with a view 
to recommending a certain Patent (!) Hive, 
and explaining the mode of managing it, 
and in which much that is useful, is mixed 
up with many errors and absurdities, 1 find 
strong confirmation of the correctness of my 
theory, sufficient to bear me out in it, even 
had it never been reduced to practice. 

This Patent Hive — (I love to repeat it,) . 
Patent hive, so far as I can understand it, is 
arranged with a large, permanent tenement 
below, over which is set a series of draw- 
ers, furnished with slides, windows, &c. for 
the reception of the honey, and its removal 
without injury to the bees. I have already 



m 



.24 

stated some of the objections to which all 
such complex Patent Palaces are liable, and 
will touch upon others as 1 go on. 

At page 92 of that work, it is stated, that 
"when bees have occupied one tenement for 
several years, the comb becomes thick and 
filthy, by being filled up with the old bread, 
and cocoons made by young bees, when 
transformed from a larvae to the perfect 
fly." By the use of this Patent hive, they 
are compelled to breed in the same cells re- 
peatedly during each season, so that "in the 
course of a few years, they become so con- 
tracted, in consequence of being thus filled 
up, that the bees come forth but mere 
dwarfs, and cease to swarm." To remedy 
this, the author prescribes the transferring 
of them to another hive; at the same time, 
he seems to consider it a doubtful practice at 
best, and adds, " I would not be understood 
to approve of transferring from the old 
box, until the comb is so old as to produce 
dwarfs." — Rather late then, I should say! 

In some remarks on their management, he 
says, " they will usually follow their mas- 
ter's orders, if it is in accordance with their 
instincts" — true, and not otherwise ! Hence 
all plans requiring them to work upwards 
must prove failures. 

It is a common practice to leave an empty 
box on the top of the main hive, leaving the 
holes communicating with it open. During 
the winter, cold air is generated in the 



« 



25 

uppermost box, and from it descends into the 
lower one, displacing the warm air neces- 
sary to the existence of the bees. Their hive 
is thus reduced to the temperature of the 
open air, which during the excessively se- 
vere weather, frequently experienced here 
in winter, is altogether too cold for the exis- 
tence of these insects. When left to them- 
selves, they close up every crevice above, 
only leaving an outlet below, by which they 
are enabled to guard against the cold with- 
out ; and by clustering round that part of 
the comb which contains their eggs and lar- 
vae, they generate sufficient animal warmth 
to prevent their perishing during the severest 
weather. 

They give a convincing proof of how 
much they dislike the vacant space above, 
in the walls of propolis, which they build 
round the outlets to it, with an evident effort 
at closing them up altogether. They will 
however, generally fill this top box the first 
year, if it is a good one; and the following 
season they may again make some honey 
there, but I have yet to meet with the bee- 
breeder who has had them continue to do 
so after the second or third year. I have al- 
ways observed that the only use they put it 
to, is that of a withdrawing room in warm 
weather ! 

Dr. Thatcher, in his " Practical Treatise/' 
at page 96, states that "it is satisfactorily 
ascertained, that the young brood, and the 

4 



26 

bee-bread or pollen, are deposited in the 
hive where the swarm is first put." True 
— but they never continue to do so, if they 
have space allowed them below, to permit 
their following that course, which we have 
just shown nature directs them to pursue. 

Dr. Thatcher is here speaking of the 
Charlieshope hive, the lower or permanent 
apartment of which is made to taper to- 
wards the bottom, like a funnel. This bot- 
tom is a hinged door, hung so as that it may 
be thrown back during the day, and shut 
up at night, to prevent the entrance of the 
moth. The top has three holes in it, to al- 
low the bees access to an upper box, to be 
added after it is found that they ha,ve filled 
the lower one — when, " if the season be fa- 
vorable, they will fill it with comb and ho- 
ney." They may — but their doing so is 
contrary to their instinctive course. Throw- 
ing back the bottom board during the day, 
is also in direct opposition to their well- 
known dislike to light being admitted into 
their habitations; and it also leaves them 
entirely exposed to the depredations of other 
swarms, hornets, &c. 

About the year 1800, the insect now fa- 
miliarly known as "the Bee-moth," first 
made its appearance about Boston, — or 
rather, its ravages did not until that time 
become generally complained of. It is con- 
sidered by naturalists to be, like the insect on 
which it preys, a native of Europe, and if 



27 

so — and we are much inclined to doubt it — 
must have found its way here in some in- 
explicable manner. 

In 1805., it showed itself in and about 
Wallingford, Connecticut, where it soon be- 
came the pest of the apiaries. 

It is noticed as being already very trou- 
blesome about Philadelphia, in 1812 — but it 
was not until fifteen years afterwards, that 
it showed itself as far west as the Ohio line, 
and did not spread over the State until some 
years after. 

About 1830, it appeared in the vicinity of 
Cincinnati. It seemed to continue its course 
slowly and gradually westward, almost ex- 
terminating the bee as it went — people did 
not know to what to ascribe the destruction. 
Those few, who in that day, were subscri- 
bers to an agricultural paper, were informed 
of the cause and were able to keep it some- 
what in check ; particularly where their api- 
ary happened to be on a high, airy situa- 
tion. Generally speaking however, its rav- 
ages were such, that instead of finding the 
usual stock of from fifty to a hundred 
stands, round the gardens of the industrious 
German settlers, scarce one was to be seen ! 

All the damage was done, before those of 
the western farmers who kept bees, could 
be convinced that this enemy to their in- 
dustrious little friends, was going to occa- 
sion much injury; and the consequence was^ 
that they increased and spread with much 



28 



greater rapidity than if proper and season- 
able means had been used to check them. 
Many apiaries were entirely destroyed, be- 
fore the proprietors were aware that aught 
was wrong. 

Their progress westward still continues — 
five years ago, on the Wabash, they were 
easily kept under — now, they are in many 
places carrying all before them. West of 
that river, so far as 1 can learn, they are 
scarce known yet; tho ? they will undoubt- 
edly, in time, occasion the same general de- 
struction there, that they have done else- 
where — unless, indeed, some such plan as 
that recommended in this work, is used to 
prevent it. Those who attempt bee-breetl- 
ing in a prairie country, will not suffer so 
much from the moth as if their apiaries 
were in the timber — the free current of air 
is prejudicial to that instinct; and the abund- 
ant supply of food which the bees find 
there, enables them to increase so freely and 
the hives are generally so well filled with 
bees, in full health, size and vigor, that the 
moth has little chance. 

For some years past, a complete check 
seems to have been put to the business of 
the apiarist in this region. A good stand 
of bees is rarely to be met with; and honey 
has become, from its scarcity, a luxury in- 
deed! From fifteen to twenty cents per 
pound is the common price for a good arti- 
cle, in the comb. At such a price, there ^an 



29 

be no business named, which will pay as 
well. Supposing that a farmer was to de- 
vote one-third of his entire time to the care 
of even forty stands, they would pay him 
better than any other stock that he could 
keep, or any crop that he could raise. And 
an apiary of forty stands would require no 
such outlay of time and labour. Two or 
three hours per day, twice or three times a 
week, would suffice to keep them in order 
and check the moth. During the swarming 
season, it would be necessary, that some one 
was at work within hearing or seeing dis- 
tance of the bee-shed. 

Let us suppose a stock of forty stands has 
been accumulated, and that proper care has 
been taken of them, and they are contained 
in good, well put together, subtended hives ; 
and that the moth has been kept under, so 
as not to have effected a lodgement; and, 
that the proprietor does not wish to increase 
his stock — what would be his annual in- 
come from such an apiary? Such a stock 
is within the means of the poorest man, if 
he be but careful and industrious, and will 
follow the plans which 1 shall presently lay 
down — five years will suffice to allow of 
this increase, from a single swarm. A good 
hive, on the subtended plan, will throw off 
in an ordinary season, one first-rate swarm 
— generally a second, and not unfrequently, 
a third and fourth. But as will presently 
be shown, every swarm ought to be made a 



30 

good one, or be returned to the parent hive; 
so that we will allow that the forty stands 
throw off fifty good swarms — a low esti- 
mate — which will each form, the first sea- 
son, a No. 2 hive. Each old hive, besides, 
will allow of the top box being removed, 
in the fall, full of honey, weighing not less, 
on an average, than thirty-six pounds, and 
more frequently over forty. From these 
data, any one may make a calculation of the 
profits to be derived. 

The certain destruction occasioned by the 
moth, if it effects a lodgement, is the prin- 
cipal and most serious bar to successful bee- 
breeding in this region, at the present day. 

Numerous plans* have been published for 
their prevention, some of which were good 
— others worthless. The only ones that 
have been successful, are those that have 
had for their object the entire exclusion of 
the moth ; and the keeping each hive in a 
strong, healthy condition, in a box or hive 
proportioned to their strength, so that they 
were enabled to defend themselves from all 
invaders. 

But let the plan be what it will, if that 
plan is carried out in a careless and negli- 
gent manner ; the boxes, hives, or palaces, 
allowed to warp and crack open, so as to 
permit the moth to gain a footing, it can- 
not succeed. There is no business requi- 
ring a more continued exercise of care and 
neatness, than that of the Apiarist. 



31 

Many of the methods attempted, have 
succeeded for a time — some, because they 
made a near approach to proper principles; 
others, because their novelty induced the 
proprietor to give them a greater degree of 
attention than common. Thus, that of set- 
ting the hives on the necks of bottles, so as 
to raise them a few inches off the stand, al- 
lowed of their interiors being frequently 
examined, and all appearance of the moth 
removed — but, at the same time, it permit- 
ted that insect, which is by no means slow 
of flight, to obtain uninterrupted access to 
any part of the hive, without the possibility 
of the bee offering any effectual resistance. 
It also kept the bees in a constantly irritated 
state — their objection to the open space be- 
low, being shown, by their carrying down pil- 
lars of propolis, with the evident intention 
of closing it up as much as in their power. 

Some adopted a plan more likely to suc- 
ceed — that of inverting a larger box over 
the one containing the bees. Under and 
around this the moth laid its eggs, which 
could then be occasionally removed without 
disturbing the inmates of the inner box. 
Where the subtended hive is not adopted, 
this will be found a partial preventative ; 
though unless the tunnel entrance is used,, 
there is danger of the bees taking posses- 
sion of the intermediate space. 

Others making use of the same plan, on 
a more extended and expensive scale, built 



32 

a tight bee-house, within which the hives 
were suspended by nailing brackets on their 
sides, which caught between two beams 
running lengthways of the building. From 
the boxes, thus suspended, with their lower 
ends open, narrow bridges were carried to 
the different outlets in the sides of the 
house, affording a means of communication 
for the bees. This, too, answered well for 
a time, until by the shrinking of the dif- 
ferent parts of the outer building, crevices 
were formed, of which the moths took pos- 
session, and soon ruined the whole. The 
old comb was also left for the bees to breed 
in, which as we before showed, ought never 
to be done. 

All the different patent bee-palaces, all 
the additions of drawers, shelves, bell glass- 
es, &c. are liable to the same, and still more 
serious objections. Some of them are even 
arranged with the view of inducing a num- 
ber of different swarms to become one great 
family, and all work together in the one 
room in peace and harmony! Those only 
who have no knowledge of their natural 
habits and instincts, can possibly expect 
them to do so. 

It is an opinion with some, that the moth 
will neither attack a hive set immediately 
on the naked earth, or when at a great 
height from the ground. This is disproved 
in both instances, by the fact that their ene- 
my finds them in every situation, and de- 



33 

stroys swarms in the tops of the tallest trees 
of the forest, equally with those set on the 
ground. With the vain hope, however, of 
success, some individuals have fitted up 
small, tight rooms in the garrets of their 
houses; but it is very doubtful if they have, 
in a single instance, succeeded for any 
length of time. One gentleman in Ken- 
tucky, who had prepared two or three such 
rooms for his bees, happened to have the 
entrance to one of them immediately over 
the window of his family sitting-room, in 
which there was almost always a light. 
The bees in that room were entirely ex- 
empted from the attacks of the moth — that 
insect being attracted by the light, and so 
led away from the entrance. 

Bees will do well in an airy garret, if 
kept in the subtended hive, or in any neat, 
tight box, in which they are allowed to 
do as their natural instinct directs them — 
swarming regularly, and working from the 
top down. 

I went, last fall, to see a bee-room fitted 
up in the garret of a pretty high house in 
the country, neatly ceiled and plastered, 
within which a healthy swarm of bees had 
been set, last summer. They were in a box 
about two and a half feet by fifteen inches, 
which was set on a light frame ; the box be- 
ing left open below, with the hope that they 
would gradually extend the comb down- 
wards; and finding abundance of room in 

5 



34 

their apartment, would go on to fill it, and 
to increase their own numbers to an unlim- 
ited extent, without swarming. An outlet 
had been left in the wall of the house, for 
their coming and going. On opening the 
door, the floor was found to be covered to 
the depth of from one to two inches with 
dead bees, amounting in all to about half a 
bushel. Each bee had been cut in two, 
across the abdomen, evidently by the hor- 
net — this being their usual practice. A 
number of these enemies were found in the 
room. The bees had made but little comb, 
and seemed to have barely enough of ho- 
ney to support them over winter. Their 
time had been consumed in closing with 
propolis, the various cracks and crevices, 
formed by the inevitable shrinking of the 
plank; and in warring with the hornet and 
the moth, which had also obtained some 
footing. 

Complete failure as this was, it is to be 
doubted, if in one instance in ten, these 
garret rooms do any better. 

The same gentleman had also one of the 
"Patent Bee-palaces" — a complex affair, 
procured at a cost of forty dollars! It was 
fitted up with doors and windows at each 
side and end — uprights and cross-ties — 
presses and corner-cupboards — and fifteen 
or twenty handsome bell-glasses on each 
side ! The top was arranged for the recep- 
tion of three or four different families of 



bees; three fine stands had been set on it 
last season. These were expected to work 
down into the apartment below, common to 
all ; and tho' separate and distinct swarms, 
were to make common cause in filling it. 
This was so decidedly contrary to the na- 
ture and habits of the insect, that it could 
not possibly succeed; the result was, in this 
instance, what we may generally expect to 
find it. On applying some half dozen of 
the large bunch of keys, belonging to the 
palace, to as many doors and window-shut- 
ters, we found not a live bee to be seen, 
tho' the larvae of the moth were there in 
myriads ! 

Other instances, with precisely the same 
results, might be added, but it is thought 
unnecessary. 

Some years ago, a friend of the author, 
in Scotland, made somewhat of an approach 
to the principles of the subtended hive, but 
did not live to carry it out. There, they use 

almost exclusively 
the Straw Skep, 
which is only en- 
durable on account 
of its economy. 

The gentleman 
spoken of, finding 
that his bees had 
filled their skeps 
with comb, while the season for making ho- 
ney was yet at its height, afforded them 




36 

more space below, by adding under the 
lower edge of each skep, a hoop, about three 
inches in width, and half an inch thick. As 
they filled up this additional space, he ad- 
ded more hoops. This gave them room 
enough to store away all the honey they 
made during the season, and prevented any 
relaxation in their labours. It was however 
a clumsy and imperfect plan — the only 
method by which they could be eased of 
their surplus stock, was either by removing 
the additions and cutting away the comb ; 
or by the barbarous practice of smothering 
the little laborers themselves. 

Several families of Shakers, in different 
parts of the Union, have adopted, with in- 
variably good results, the original of the 
subtended hive — the French plan before al- 
luded to. But individuals who have tried 
it, without using the same degree of neat- 
ness and care exercised by that people, have 
met with partial failures. 

Amongst others was one gentleman in 
this immediate vicinity, who had long been 
successful with his bees, but has of late 
years become quite disheartened. He has 
followed the practice of the Shakers. His 
boxes are formed and managed somewhat 
on the plan recommended here ; but instead 
of a solid top to each box, his were formed 
of narrow slats or spars, one inch wide and 
about three-eighths of an inch thick, reach- 
ing across the top from one side to the other, 



37 

and about one-fourth of an inch apart. 
Each of the three boxes being thus formed, 
the top one only having a solid cover laid 
on loose, the bees had a free, open passage, 
their comb being attached to the spars. 
The loose top, the joinings of the boxes and 
the ends of the spars, afforded excellent har- 
bors for the moth, which have almost ruined 
his apiary. (See Finis.) Then instead of 
replacing an empty box below, in the spring, 
after removing a full one from the topin the 
fall; he replaced an empty box on top, im- 
mediately after removing the full one, so that 
he might always be able to take the newest 
honey and the whitest comb. This, we may 
again remark, can never be done without 
injury to the bees — experience proves the 
fact. 

By a careful comparison of the young 
bees from an old hive, the cells in which 
have become much diminished in size, with 
those from a fresh hive, the difference in 
their size and thrifty appearance will be at 
once perceived. New honey, or that which 
has been made the same season, though 
both whiter and fairer to the eye, is neither 
so fine flavored nor so wholesome as that 
which has undergone, as it were, a temper- 
ing in the hive. In a good, thrifty hive, 
there is just that degree of heat kept up, 
that is necessary to prevent the honey be- 
coming candied in the cells — if once allowed 



38 

to get into that state, age does not improve 
nor affect it. 

If the farmers of the west will think of 
these things, and bestow a few of the many 
hours which they now throw away in idle- 
ness, on the care of a few stands of bees — 
acquire a knowledge of their nature and 
habits, and apply that knowledge judi- 
ciously, in their management of them — 
sowing small patches of such plants as mig- 
nionette and white clover, to yield them pas- 
turage — they would improve their condi- 
tion as men, add greatly to their own 
wealth, and save annually to the country 
some millions of dollars that are now lost. 

4 



41 



THE SUBTENDED HIVE. 

The consequence of the many failures ex- 
perienced in the west, in the business of the 
apiary, has been its almost entire abandon- 
ment as a business. 

There are individuals who still have api- 
aries containing from twenty to fifty hives ; 
and even some who have over a hundred. 
On enquiry, however, it will be found, that 
they have a high and airy situation for their 
bees; and are themselves willing to bestow 
some degree of care upon them. Still all 
complain of the increased losses they sus- 
tain from the moth, and seem to fear that 
they will ultimately lose their entire stock. 
They complain too of the difficulty they ex- 
perience in robbing the hives; of protecting 
them over winter; and of keeping them, 
generally, in a healthy thriving condition. 
They all acknowledge that their bees, if 
properly managed, are extremely profitable. 
Let them, then, bestow the requisite degree 
of care, and pursue the business on proper 
principles, and there is not a doubt of suc- 
cess. 

In adopting a plan for the keeping and 
management of bees, several important 
points must be considered. It must com- 
bine simplicity with convenience; and 

6 



42 

cheapness with durability. It must allow 
of the inmates proceeding in their own nat- 
ural way; of the proprietor removing honey 
when it can be spared, without disturbing 
or injuring the bees. It must afford them, 
during winter, a warm and dry habitation ; 
and in summer a cool and airy one. Its 
entrances must be so arranged, as to allow 
the bees a free passage, and yet enable 
them to defend themselves from enemies. 
It must afford, with a reasonable degree of 
care, complete protection against the moth; 
and facilities for putting two or more weak 
swarms together, where they come off late 
in the season. And it ought to give the 
proprietor control over his bees, as perfect 
as the nature of the insect will admit of. 

All this, and more, can be attained by the 
use of the 

SUBTENDED HIVE. 

It is a simple and economical plan; of 
easy management; and one within the 
means of any farmer who can handle a 
saw, a plane and a hammer. 

The boxes of which it is composed, are 
formed of good, well-seasoned pine plank — 
if possible, free from knots and wind-shakes. 
It ought to be at least one inch thick. The 
boxes may be ten, eleven or twelve inches 
square, in the clear. Let the plank be 
dressed on each side, and jointed on the 
edges, so as to fit close, without being 



43 

tongued and grooved. Before nailing them 
together at the sides, lay a thin strip of thick 
white lead paint on the edge to be nailed, 
which will render it impervious to the ovi- 
positor of the moth. In the top cut two 
semicircular holes at the front, and two at 
the back, of one inch and a half in diame- 
ter — the straight side being in a line with 
the back and front of the box, so that the 
bees may have a straight road in their way 
from one story to the other. Put the top 
on without any layer of paint, using eight 
stout screw nails, that it may be taken off 
to facilitate the removal of the honey. Give 
the outside of the box two coats of white 
lead paint, all except the top; and let it 
be done so long before it is necessary to 
use it, as that the smell may be dissipated, 
as it is very offensive to the bees. Pour a 
little melted bees-wax, while pretty hot, 
over the inside of the top, which will ena- 
ble the bees to attach their comb much 
more firmly. Let three-quarters of an inch 
q£ the thickness of the lower edges of the 
box in the inside be bevelled off, so as to 
leave but about one-fourth of an inch of 
surface to rest upon the stand — this will 
afford less shelter for the eggs of the moth. 
We will suppose the boxes, thus made, 
to be a cube of twelve inches inside. In 
that case, the tunnel stand will be made 
thus. Take a piece of two inch pine plank, 
free from knots and shakes — what carpen- 



44 

ter's term clear stuff; length 26, and 
breadth 18 inches. Ten inches from one 
end, and two from the other and from each 
side, is marked a square of fourteen inches. 
From the outside of this square, the board 
is dressed off, with an even slope, until its 
thickness at the front edge is reduced to 
half an inch, and at the other three edges to 
about an inch. The square is then reduced 
to twelve inches, in the centre of Which is 
bored an inch auger hole ; to this hole, the 
inner square is also gradually sloped to the 
depth of an inch ; thus securing the bees 
from any possibility of wet lodging about 
their hive, and affording them free ventila- 
tion. There will then be a level, smooth 
strip of one inch in width, surrounding the 
square of twelve inches, on which to set the 
box or hive. Two inches from the front 
edge of the stand, commence cutting a 
channel two inches in width, and of such a 
depth as to carry it out, on an even slope, 
half way between the inner edge of the 
hive, and the ventilating hole in the centre. 
Over this, fit in a strip of wood as neatly as 
possible, dressing it down even with the 
slope of the stand, so as to leave a tunnel 
two inches in width by a quarter of an 
inch in depth. Under the centre hole, and 
over the outlet of the tunnel, hang small 
wire grates, the one to prevent the entrance 
of other insects; and the other to be thrown 
back to permit the exit of the bees, or fas- 



45 

tened down to keep them at home in clear, 
sun-shining days in winter. For feet to 
the stand, use four or five inch screw-nails, 
screwed in, from below, far enough to be 
firm. The lower side ought also to be 
planed smooth; and the whole should have 
two coats of white paint some time before 
it is wanted. 

The Apiary or Bee-shed may be of a 
length adapted to the number of stands for 
which it is intended; and ought to be at 
least six feet in depth, and six feet in height 
at the back. It may be built in the cheap- 
est manner, and yet combine, as represented 
in the Frontispiece, economy and conveni- 
ence, with neatness and taste. Locust 
posts, sunk in the ground, with rough plates 
and rafters, covered over-head with clap- 
boards, and behind with rough planks ; the 
arches in front composed of crooked limbs ; 
the inside and the back whitewashed with 
lime every spring; the front and ends cov- 
ered with creepers, so trained as to be out 
of the way of the bees, and not so thick as 
to harbor insects ; and the floor paved with 
brick, or laid with gravel, rolled firm, will 
be all that is necessary. A good, sound 
plank will be run lengthways of the shed, 
supported by stout legs, to answer as a 
bench on which to set the stands; and must 
allow of an alley, two and a half feet in 
width, behind it. The Bee-shed may front 
in any direction — though it is best to pro- 



46 

tect it from the hot summer's sun; from 
the extreme cold of winter; and from the 
sudden thunder-gusts so common from the 
south-west in summer. An eastern or 
south-eastern exposure is preferable. Let 
it be so placed, as that the motions of the 
bees may be conveniently watched from the 
house, without having them in the way. 

We will suppose that an individual, who 
wishes to keep bees, has provided himself 
with a few boxes and tunnel stands, during 
the winter; has erected his bee-shed, and is 
ready to purchase his parent hives. In this 
we will assist him, and also in the subse- 
quent management during the season — 
premising, that the time, as to dates, must 
be regulated by his own observation: it 
will vary in different latitudes. 

In the purchase of stock-hives, much care 
is necessary. It unfortunately happens, 
that in the West, there is but little choice — 
almost all are indifferent alike. The proper 
season for purchasing, is in the fall, winter, 
or early spring. Select a hive as well made 
and as free from cracks and crevices as pos- 
sible. Let the swarm contained in it, be 
not more than two, or at farthest three 
years old. Examine the interior as care- 
fully as practicable ; if there is any appear- 
ance of bee-moths or their larvae, reject it. 
But if it is pretty well filled with fresh- 
looking comb; the bees abundant and 
active; the box or gum tolerably sound; 



47 

and the whole weighing, exclusive of the 
hive, over 20 or 25 pounds in the spring, 
you may safely purchase. As to price, that 
may be estimated according to the number 
of bees and probable weight of honey; and 
may rate for a good hive, at from four to 
ten dollars. 

The greatest care must be exercised in 
removing it. The best way to do so, is to 
enclose the hive in a cloth, and let two 
men carry it, suspended to a pole. If the 
distance is great, it will have to be con- 
veyed in a spring waggon, or on a sleigh ; 
great care being used not to jar it. A very 
slight jolting will detach the comb, and 
throw the whole into ruins. Having got 
it home safe, place it where it is to stand, 
and if the box or gum is not in very good 
order, repair it as well as circumstances will 
permit, turning it up and removing all ap- 
pearances of the moth, and cutting away 
the old, black empty comb. The bees will 
thus have some space afforded them, where 
they require and want it, and will throw off 
stronger swarms in consequence. Early in 
May, if the season be favorable, they will 
begin to throw off their first swarms — va- 
rying as to time in different locations. In 
the mean time, preparations ought to be 
made for their reception in the apiary ; the 
hives and stands should be got ready, and 
a shelter erected ; an open shed answering 
very well, so arranged as that they shall 



43 

not be exposed to the full blaze of the hot 
summer's sun. A few trees in front, of a 
moderate growth, and trimmed up suffi- 
ciently to prevent the bees being entangled 
in the branches, in returning loaded to the 
hive, will be found of great assistance in 
swarming, as the bees will almost invaria- 
bly settle on them, and remain from fifteen 
minutes to an hour, affording abundance of 
time for saving them, if the proprietor has 
every thing ready. But if they are allowed 
to go off a second time, there is little or no 
hope of saving them. All the noise usually 
made by beating tin-pans, ringing bells, etc., 
is perfectly useless ; though it may some- 
times happen, on a very clear, warm day, 
that they will show an unwillingness to set- 
tie, in which case they may be induced to 
do so. by casting a few ladles full of water 
amongst them, and even by firing a gun 
near — the concussion throwing them into 
confusion, and inducing them to settle. 
When they are all quiet, take a box, the 
holes in the top of which have been care- 
fully plugged up, and after seeing that it is 
clean and sweet, shake or sweep the young 
swarm gently into it. The face and hands 
ought to be protected by a veil and gloves; 
for though bees are not inclined to sting 
when swarming, if gently handled, yet a 
chance-sting inflicted on a tender place, will 
discompose the most firm, and probably 
occasion twenty more — for it is well known, 



49 

that the odor of the poison is very strong, 
and immediately perceptible to the bees, 
having a most irritating effect upon them. 
If the outsides of the box have not been 
painted sufficiently long to allow the smell 
of the oil to dissipate, it will be well to rub 
it over, inside and out, with some sweet 
herb, such as balm, or even with hickory 
leaves, which will make them better satis- 
fied with their quarters. 

A small table ought to be at hand, cov- 
ered by a clean towel, on which to set the 
box, after the bees have been shaken into 
it, first placing a small stone or chip under 
one edge to allow them a free passage. If 
they settle in such a place as that the box 
can be firmly propped, up over them, they 
will generally go into it without farther 
trouble — or if necessary, they may be gent- 
ly swept into the box with a small wisp of 
a broom-corn, or a bunch of feathers. After 
they have been hived and placed in some 
secure situation, let them remain till eve- 
ning, taking care not to leave them exposed 
to the full blaze of the sun, but shade them. 
They must be watched, until it is seen that 
the workers are coming and going as usual, 
for they sometimes go off, after they are to 
all appearance quiet. 

In the cool of the evening, carry the hive 
to the apiary, and setting a clean tunnel- 
stand under it, place it where it is to remain 

7 



50 

— leaving a space of two feet between each 
stand. 

It rarely occurs that a swarm fills a greater 
space than one cubic foot — if however, 
when a very large one comes off, they seem 
to be too crowded in the hive, add another 
box below, leaving the holes in the top open. 
If one box is found sufficient, let them re- 
main in it; and in about ten days or two 
weeks, the state of affairs inside may be ex- 
amined into, by gently lifting up one edge 
of the box, at daybreak, and if it be found 
that it is nearly filled with comb, immedi- 
ately add the second one to it. This will 
generally be found needful. 

Later in the season, it frequently occurs 
that small, weak swarms are thrown off. 
These may either be returned to the parent 
hives, or strengthened by putting two or 
three together. To do this, place the one 
box under the other in the evening, leaving 
the communication open between them — 
shut down the grate over the tunnel-en- 
trance; and burn a piece of leather for a 
few moments under the ventilator below, 
which will destroy that peculiarity of odour, 
by which the inmates of the different hives 
are enabled to distinguish each other; and 
will also completely disarm and confuse 
them, and prevent the possibility of a dis- 
turbance arising from the union. They will 
soon regulate matters amongst themselves, 



51 

so as to become one family. If however 
there seems to be an unusual degree of ex- 
citement in the hive next morning, keep the 
grate shut down ail day — if not, throw it 
open in the morning. It is much better to 
put even three swarms together, and thus 
form one strong one, than to have them in 
separate colonies, weak and inefficient. In 
fact, as a general rule, every swarm ought 
to fill a No. 1 hive, and require the addition 
of a second box, forming a No. 2, within ten 
or twelve days. 

There are many good and sufficient rea- 
sons why this rule should be enforced, and 
the strength of each hive kept up. When a 
weak swarm comes off, and they are left, a 
mere handfull in their hive, they rarely 
stay — but, seeming to feel their own weak- 
ness, and their exposure to enemies, they 
abandon their new home and return to the 
other hives, leaving behind them a few 
thin flakes of comb. And if they do re- 
main, it is almost impossible to protect 
them from the moth; whilst a strong hive 
is rarely invaded by that, or any other 
enemy. 

The Subtended Hive renders the putting 
of two or three swarms together, a very sim- 
ple process. 

After carefully examining all the different 
plans recommended for defending bees from 
the inroads of the moth, and seeing them 
tried and trying them myself, I find that the 



52 

only true and infallible preventatives, are 
care and neatness. When it is considered, 
that during the whole summer, this active 
enemy is at work; that wherever there is a 
crack or a crevice, there she will insert her 
eggs; that there they hatch and become 
small, white worms; that these worms, as 
they travel along in the interior of the hive, 
spin a silken covering for their bodies — a 
sort of tunnel, within which they are per- 
fectly safe from the attacks of the bees — 
their head, which alone is visible, being hard 
and horny; that if by any possibility they 
are dragged from this tunnel, they immedi- 
ately, like the spider, suspend themselves 
by a silken thread, by which they can at 
any time return to their former quarters. 
When all these facts are taken into consid- 
eration, it will be seen at once, that if the 
moth is allowed a footing at all, it will re- 
tain it — and if so, the destruction of the hive 
is inevitable. 

Let the apiarist have his stands and boxes, 
well and carefully made; let him examine 
his bees, at least once a week ; let his assis- 
tant lift up the hive from the stand, which 
must be removed, the lower edge of the box 
cleaned of every appearance of the moth, 
and of all filth, and immediately replaced 
where it stood before, on a clean, fresh 
tunnel-stand. Let the stand that was remo- 
ved, be effectually cleaned, when it may be 
used to supply the place of the next one to 



53 

be removed — and so on through the whole. 
The apiary or hee-shed must be kept clean 
and airy; should be whitewashed every 
spring; and if, once or twice during the 
heat of summer, the bees were all gently re- 
moved some cool evening — the apiary cov- 
ered up close with old carpets, &c. and a 
strong smoke from tobacco kept up in it for 
half an hour, every insect would be de- 
stroyed. The floor and shelves, &c. would 
require to be afterwards swept off clean and 
watered ; the shed being left open till morn- 
ing, for ventilation, and the removal of the 
odour of tobacco, before the bees were re- 
placed, which they must be by sunrise next 
day. Every opportunity must be taken to 
destroy the moth when visible — either by 
hand, or by placing during the evening, a 
bright lamp over a basin of water or soap- 
suds, in front of the apiary, which will at- 
tract them; and they will, like all of this 
tribe of insects, scorch their wings and 
perish. 

Towards the latter end of August, or 
early in September, the grand attack will 
be made on the drones, ending in their com- 
plete destruction. No top-boxes should be 
removed until this takes place — though if 
much needed, they 7nay be taken off. It is 
better, too, to let them remain in their place 
over winter until they are required, as there 
the honey will not become candied. Imme- 
diately after a box is removed, the holes in 



54 

the top of the box on which it sat, must be 
neatly plugged up. 

Bees ought not to be permitted to leave 
their hives until settled warm weather, in 
the spring; and until the first wild flowers 
come in bloom. We have frequently a few 
clear, warm days in the winter, when the 
bees, particularly if the stands face the south 
and are exposed to the sun's rays, will leave 
the hives and fly about. This should not 
be permitted — during such days, keep the 
grates shut down. They can gather no ho- 
ney, nor be benefitted in any way — many 
of them perish by being exposed to an occa- 
sional chilly blast, or become the prey of 
birds. Every bee, at this season of the 
year, is valuable. 

If it becomes necessary to feed a weak 
swarm during winter or early spring — 
which may very soon be known by the 
weight of the hive — it must be done, by 
supplying them with a little honey in the 
comb; or syrup prepared by adding two 
quarts of water to one of honey, and boil- 
ing a few minutes, after adding a table- 
spoonful of salt — skim off all impurities, 
and after it has cooled, pour a little into a 
plate, over which lay a few twigs — raise 
the lower box, and place this on the stand, 
where the bees will quickly find it. Where 
honey or sugar is scarce, they may be fed 
with a syrup prepared from the sugar-beet, 
thus — after carefully washing the roots, 



55 

grate them down, and press out the juice; 
to each gallon of this, add one tea-spoonful 
of sulphuric acid, (oil of vitriol,) three tea- 
spoonfuls of chalk or whiting, and one table- 
spoonful of salt — boil until all impurities are 
thrown off, and there will remain a fine sy- 
rup, on which bees will do well. 

Every other day, instead of this syrup, 
they may be supplied with a little fresh, 
sweet corn-meal, to which has been added 
about one-sixth of fine salt — sift the mixture 
on a plate, which pla.ce on the stand. 

Humidity or dampness is always to be 
guarded against; bees suffer more from it 
than from cold. On this account, snow 
should never be allowed to lodge round the 
hives. Nor ought the stands to be removed 
and cleaned during damp weather — though 
this must be attended to at least once a fort- 
night, all the year round, and more espe- 
cially in winter. 

The most simple and perfect cure for the 
effects of the poison from the sting of a bee, 
is to wet a piece of indigo and rub on the spot 
— this will immediately relieve the pain, if 
applied soon, and prevent the swelling. The 
juice of a raw onion is also said to be equally 
efficacious. 



56 
THE HONEY BEE; 

APIS MELLIFICA, OF NATURALISTS. 

We fear that our little work will not be 
so useful without, as with, a short treatise 
on the natural history of the Bee; we there- 
fore offer the following, not as containing 
aught that may be new to those who have 
already studied the subject; but as a care- 
fully prepared sketch, adapted to the wants 
of those for whom it is written — a compar- 
ison of the facts, the experiments and their 
results, and of the conclusions drawn by 
the numerous able writers who have al- 
ready written volumes on this inexhaustible 
topic. Many of our western farmers have 
never read even the most common-place 
treatise on the subject ; and are as ignorant 
of the nature and habits of the insect, as 
they are of those of the inhabitants of the 
moon ! 

It is for the information of such, that we 
write. We will begin by giving a familiar 
sketch of the different kinds of bees con- 
tained in the hive ; their nature and func- 
tions ; their division into sexes, or modifi- 
cations of sexes ; their food, secretions, and 
mode of breathing; their external senses 
and their instincts. We will then follow 
them in their different labors, from the time 
the young swarm has settled in its new 
home ; the structure of their hives; their 




57 

i 

singular and systematic architecture ; the 
rearing of their progeny, and the issuing 
forth of new swarms ; the massacre of the 
drones, when no longer necessary for the 
impregnation of young queens ; the fecun- 
dation of the eggs, which, until cleared up 
by the observations of Huber, was involved 
in the deepest obscurity. 

In our sketch of 
their natural history, 
we will, of course, 
give precedence to 
the Queen, as mother 
of the hive. To be- 
gin with the egg — 
that from which she 
is hatched, is precisely similar to those 
which produce the working bees ; the lar- 
vae or worm cpmes from it in the same man- 
ner, and does not differ from that of the 
worker. But the cells, in which the eggs 
intended to produce queens are deposited, 
are larger, being above one inch deep, one- 
third of an inch wide, and their walls, which 
are formed of wax hardened by a mixture 
of propolis, are nearly an eighth of an inch 
thick; they are most commonly built on 
the edge of some of the shorter combs, but 
occasionally in the very centre of the hive. 
They vary in number from three or four^to 
twelve or fourteen. "Their form j^an ob- 
long, resembling that of a pearytheir posi- 
tion is always vertical, so that when they 
8 



5S 




arise from amidst 
other cells, they are 
placed against the 
mouths of those cells 
and project beyond 
the common surface 
of the comb. They 
are perfectly smooth 
on the inner surface, 
while their outer side 
is covered with a kind of hexagonal fret- 
work, as if they were intended for the foun- 
dation of regular cells." The eggs being 
deposited in these cells, are hatched without 
requiring any particular attention from the 
bees, except that of keeping up a proper 
temperature ; in which case the larvae ap- 
pear in three days, and have the appear- 
ance of small white worms without feet, 
coiled up at the bottom of the cells. From 
this time the attention of the nursing bees 
is much more incessantly given to the royal 
larvae, than to that of the workers or drones, 
and they are fed with what appears to be a 
much more stimulating food than that given 
to the others ; it has not the same sickening 
taste, but is somewhat acid, and is given in 
such quantity, that a part al waj s remains 
in the cell after the queen leaves it. It is 
thus "forced" as it were, into a more full 
and rapid development of all its organs, and 
in five days from its being hatched, it is 
ready to open its web preparatory to its 
transformation, and the bees enclose it by 



59 

building up a wall at the mouth of its cell. 
The web is completed in twenty-four 
hours, and after remaining in a state of in- 
action for two days and a half, it becomes a 
pupa. " It remains between four and five 
days in this state ; and thus, on the six- 
teenth day after the egg has been laid, it 
has produced the perfect insect. When this 
change is about to take place, the bees gnaw 
away a part of the wax covering of the cell, 
till it at last becomes pellucid from its ex- 
treme thinness." The queen, although 
perfectly formed, is not always allowed to 
leave her prison ; but of this we will speak 
again, and at present suppose that the old 
queen having gone off with a swarm, the 
presence of a young one is required, and 
she is accordingly liberated by the workers 
and comes forth to perform the duties of her 
station. She is larger than any of the other 
bees; with an abdomen of greater length; 
with mandibles or teeth of smaller size than 
those of the workers, though larger than the 
drones; wings much shorter, extending little, 
if any, beyond the third ring; proboscis 
shorter, and her sting short and curved. 

The drone, 
which is admit- 
ted to be the 
male of the spe- 
cies, is character- 
ized by a thicker, 
flatter body than 
the worker;™ 




60 

rounder head ; a more bluntly terminating 
abdomen, within which is contained the 
male organs of generation, and which take 
the place of a sting, this weapon being de- 
nied him. The eggs from which the drones 
are hatched, are deposited in cells somewhat 
larger than those appropriated to the pro- 
duction of workers, and are in proportion 
to those of the latter, as one to thirty. They 
require about twenty-four days from the 
laying of the egg till their becoming a per- 
fect insect. 

The workers, or as 
they are more com- 
monly, though some- 
what incorrectly call- 
ed, neuters, comprise 
the third class; are 
smaller in size than either of those we have 
just described; proboscis or trunk more 
lengthened ; the structure of their legs and 
thighs peculiar, having a concave or hollow 
space on the middle joint of their hinder legs, 
surrounded by a row of hairs. In this "bas- 
ket," as it has been termed, they carry 
home the pollen of flowers, usually called 
bee-bread ; which they first collect by roll- 
ing themselves on it in the blossoms, and 
then brush it off with a small brush or 
pencil of hairs which grows on the tarsi or 
last joint of the leg, knead it into a ball and 
place it in the "basket," where the sur- 
rounding hairs retain it in its place. Till 
within a very few years, the working bees 




61 

have been considered as neuters, or mules 
— animals deprived of sex. It is now 
proved beyond a doubt by the observations 
and experiments made in various parts of 
Europe, confirmed by those of M. Huber, 
of Genera, that they are in reality females, 
having all the necessary though undevel- 
oped organs, which we have seen in those 
larvse intended for queens, were forced into 
a perfect or mature state. 

The workers in repeated instances, whilst 
still, to all appearance belonging to that 
class, and with a productive queen in the 
hive, have been found to lay fertile eggs ; 
though these eggs, it seems to be generally 
allowed, by the different observers, produce 
male or drone bees only. 

If it should happen that by any accident, 
they lose their queen, or if she be intention- 
ally removed from the hive, they very soon 
miss her ; in an hour or less, the whole hive 
is in a state of commotion; all work is 
abandoned, and for four or five hours they 
give themselves up to confusion and dis- 
may. After looking for their lost queen in 
ail directions, both within and without the 
hive, and becoming satisfied that they have 
indeed lost her, tranquillity is at once re- 
stored — and returning to their labors, they 
proceed to form a new queen. They select 
one of the larvse, not more than three days 
old, that would, in the ordinary course of 
nature, have been limited to the form and 



62 

duties of a worker; and after breaking 
down two of the adjoining cells, and sacri- 
ficing the larvae contained in them, they 
form a royal cell. Here they supply the 
larva with the food necessary to promote 
its growth, and as it increases in size, they 
enlarge its habitation ; until in the space of 
ten days, their loss is supplied by the birth 
of a new queen ; when all goes on as be- 
fore. 

Schirach found that if a number of bees 
be confined with even a single larva, which, 
in the natural course would have become a 
working bee, they immediately set about 
forming a Queen of it. 

While the hive remains without a Queen, 
swarming never takes place, no matter how 
crowded the hive may be. After the old 
Queen has gone off with the first swarm, 
which she invariably does, the young 
Queens are permitted to leave their cells ; 
to which they have hitherto been confined 
by the workers, and there defended by 
them from the attacks of the old Queen, 
whose instinct would lead her to destroy 
them. A succession of single combats then 
take place between the young Queens, until 
only one is left alive, with whom the em- 
pire remains. As a farther proof of the as- 
tonishing instinct by which they are guided, 
it has invariably been remarked, that in all 
these single combats between the Queens, 
they are never both destroyed — one or the 



63 

other inserts her curved sting between the 
rings of the abdomen of her opponent, oc- 
casioning instant death. 

The power possessed by the Queen, of 
multiplying her species, is amazing. It is 
computed that a single female will lay from 
30,000 to 60,000 eggs, varying according to 
climate. The mooted point of the fecunda- 
tion of the eggs seems to be now set at rest. 
Theories of all kinds have been advanced; 
some of them plausible — many absurd. 

It will be unnecessary for me here to 
give all these different theories at length; 
suffice it that some assert that a sexual union 
takes place between the Queen and the 
Drone, within the hive, though they could 
only state the result of their observation to 
be an indistinct and transient junction — 
others could see nothing of this, but insist 
that the Queen is a hermaphrodite, having 
within herself the powers of both sexes; 
and proving, moreover, that on her being 
confined alone with two drones, she turned 
on them, on their approaching her, and killed 
them on the spot. Swammerdam — and 
many believe with him — contends that the 
impregnation takes place from a certain 
aura, proceeding from the bodies of the 
males, which must needs be numerous, that 
it may have sufficient power. Many other 
such doctrines are advanced ; the most plau- 
sible of all, is that of the eggs being first de- 



64 

posited in the cells by the Queen, and there 
impregnated by the drones ejecting the se- 
minal fluid over it, as is commonly supposed 
to be the case in the spawn of frogs and of 
fishes. Some have even insisted that they 
have seen the drone in this act ! But this 
is disputed by those whose close and con- 
tinued observation enabled them to state, 
that it never does take place. And it is also 
disproved by the fact, that eggs are depos- 
ited by the Queen after the destruction of 
the drone, and are hatched before the exis- 
tence of a single drone in the spring. 

It seems to have been reserved for Huber 
to determine this disputed point. In one 
of his experiments he removed all the fe- 
males from a number of the hives, giving 
to each a queen taken the moment she came 
to maturity. He then removed all the 
drones from one division of these hives, 
letting them remain in the others. He 
then adapted to each hive a glass tube for 
an entrance, so small that no drone could 
pass through it, but large enough for the 
common bees — thus confining the queen 
alone with the neuters and her seraglio of 
males, in the one division ; and with neu- 
ters alone in the other. To his surprise all 
the queens remained sterile ! He continued 
his experiments, diversifying them in every 
possible manner, and proving at last that 
the queen bee was impregnated by an ac- 






65 

tual union of the sexes, as in most insects 
and in the larger animals; but that this 
never took place within the hive. 

It is also clear, that this single intercourse 
with the male, taking place, as is supposed 
high in air, is sufficient for the fecundation 
of all the eggs she lays for at least two 
years, and in all probability during the 
term of her life. 

When a swarm of bees takes possession of 
a hive, one body of the workers commence 
clearing it out, which they do thoroughly ; 
whilst another body of them are abroad in 
the fields and woods, collecting the waxy 
substance, called propolis, which they use 
for cementing up all crevices in their new 
habitation. This substance, Huber believes 
to be the gum which exudes from the buds 
of the wild poplar. 

This propolis adheres so strongly to the 
legs of the bees, that those that are loaded 
have to stand until the others tear it from 
their legs, and immediately apply it whilst 
still ductile. 

The next object of their labors is to pre- 
pare the combs, for the reception of the eggs, 
upon which depends the future increase of 
the colony, and with which the queen is 
now pregnant. These combs are formed of 
wax, a different material from the propolis 
before spoken of. This wax is secreted by 
another set of bees, who remain inactively 
clustered together for this purpose, and are 

9 



66 

there fed with honey by those bees en- 
gaged in collecting it for them. When 
their crops are full, they remain for some 
time clustered together at the top of the 
hive, whilst the wax forms in thin scales 
under the rings of the abdomen, from which 
they are removed by the wax-secreters 
themselves, or by those engaged in the for- 
mation of the cells. 

Our limits will not allow us to speak at 
length of the form of the combs, &c, it will 
suffice for our purpose to speak of their use. 
The cells required for the different kinds 
of eggs and larvae, are of different sizes, 
as already described. Those for the work- 
ers are first formed, and are the smallest. 
The queen, so soon as a sufficient number 
of cells are ready for her, commences de- 
positing those eggs which produce workers ; 
which occupies her during ten or twelve 
days, with scarce an interval of repose. It 
appears from various experiments, that she 
is perfectly aware of the kind of egg she is 
depositing, and carefully examines the ca- 
pacity of the cell before using it. In the 
meantime the workers are engaged in the 
construction of the other cells ; when com- 
pleted she commences laying the male eggs, 
having acquired such an increase of size as 
to be barely able to walk. This she con- 
tinues during from sixteen to twenty-four 
days, depositing a number equal to about 
one to thirtv of the first kind laid. The 



67 

royal cells are then constructed, and the 
queen goes on depositing the eggs of the 
common bee again, placing one in each of 
the royal cells at intervals of two or three 
days; the common cells receiving those 
laid in the meantime. It is only, however, 
when the season has been a productive 
one, and the hive is sufficiently numerous, 
that royal cells are made, or queens reared. 

Those cells which are set apart as maga- 
zines of honey, or of pollon or bee-bread, 
are made twice as deep as the common 
cells, and their mouths are more inclined 
upwards that their liquid contents may not 
escape so readily. When these are filled, 
they are closed up by the bees with a wall 
of wax, opened only when necessity re- 
quires. 

This bee-bread, though more especially 
the food of the young bees, is yet devoured 
by the workers. During some seasons they 
collect it in considerable quantities. 

Honey is produced from the sweet liquid 
found in flowers, and is lapped by the bees 
and finds its way into their first stomach. 
This is a large membranous bag, with a 
muscular coat, similar to the crop in fowls; 
here the nectar undergoes a change, becom- 
ing honey, and is regurgitated into the cells, 
or imparted to other bees. The second 
stomach is used for the purpose of diges- 
tion. 

An abundant supply of water is essential 



68 

to the healthy condition oi bees. They 
consume a large quantity, and often drink 
of stagnant, urinous and putrid waters, as 
if their saline and pungent qualities were 
grateful to them. They are also fond of 
salt, and eat it greedily. 

Where hives are so constructed as not to 
allow of free ventilation, the bees have to 
regulate the matter themselves. A certain 
number of workers place themselves on the 
stand, in and near the entrance, and by the 
continued vibration of their wings, create a 
strong current of air. The ventilator in 
the centre of the tunnel stand, in a great 
measure prevents the necessity for this, and 
saves the labor of the bees so employed. 

The antennae or feelers, are their organs 
of touch, and most exquisite ones too. It 
is by means of them that they are enabled 
to perform their work in the darkness of 
their hive. 

Their sense of vision is good, but requires 
a bright light in which to exercise it to per- 
fection. 

Their taste is perhaps the most imperfect 
of their senses : whilst that of smell is par- 
ticularly good. 

As to that of hearing, we are much in 
the dark. It is probable that they do hear, 
but to what extent has not been determined. 

Their powers of instinct are so remarka- 
ble, and yet so well known, that their dis- 
cussion being not essential to our object, 



69 

we shall not dwell upon them at great 
length. That of the massacre of the drones 
is not the least remarkable. "Very few 
drones accompany the new colonies, so 
that almost all those produced in the spring, 
remain in the hive. But when the queens 
are impregnated, and no new swarms are 
about to take plaice, the workers, who had 
till then suffered them to live unmolested 
in the hive, are on a sudden seized with a 
deadly fury towards them, and a scene of 
carnage ensues. This usually happens in 
August. The unhappy victims are chased 
in every quarter, and indiscriminately, and 
without a single exception, massacred. And 
so determined are they on their entire de- 
struction, that they destroy at the same 
time, even the male eggs, larvae and pupa. 
This sacrifice of the males, however, is no 
blind indiscriminating instinct ; for if a hive 
be deprived of its queen, the massacre does 
not take place, while the hottest persecution 
rages in all the surrounding hives. In this 
case, the males are allowed to survive one 
winter." 

"Having thus got rid of the useless 
mouths, which consumed, without any 
advantage to the public, a large portion of 
their provisions, the bees spend the remain- 
der of the summer in collecting stores of 
honey and of pollen for the ensuing winter." 

It occasionally happens, however, that 
their resources for obtaining a supply, en- 



70 



tirely fail at this season. On these occa- 
sions the distressed bees frequently betake 
to plunder — the stronger hives attack the 
weaker ones, and make a furious onset, 
which costs many of both parties their lives. 
Where hives are thus weakened they be- 
come an easy prey to the moth, which 
carries on the work of destruction, until the 
hive is totally destroyed. The following 
cut represents the state in which they leave 
it, as spoken of at page 37. 




/ 



THB 



'WESTERN FARMER & GARDENER, 

EDITED BY 
IS A MONTHLY PF.Ri JA jIC J 

PUBLISHED IN CIKCIttNATI, 

Eaeji number contains^ octavo pages, illustrated by 
tDne or more copperplate engravings and iiumercis wood 
cuts, and neatly bound in a cover. 

TERMS — One dollar per annum, in advance. 

; — '-& - 

Will be published on 1st July next, 

By Edward Lucas, 112 Main hi. Cincinnati, 

ALMANAC, FOR 1842. ; 

EDITED BY 
ILLUSTRATED BY 

CHARLES POSTER. 

A work containing in addition to the usual almanac 
matter, the sittings of the Courts in the several states, 
&c, 24 pages of useful, condensed information on the 
farm and garden work of the diiierent months—each 
month embeltish|d with a head and tail piece, illustrative 
of "VV cstern life, designed expressly for the work. 

'The Whole will contain 72 pages, exclusive of an ad- 
vertising sheet, well bound in stiff boards ; and ^illfe*. 
at 25 cents per copy; $2 per dozen ; 3 copies senium 
carefully put up, and postage paid, for nae doll i 
ted free of expense. 

EDWARD LUCAS, 

BOOKSELLER, STA1IONER, AND PUBLISHER, 

112 Main Street, Cincinnati, 

MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS. 

Stationary, of every description. 

Blank Books always on hand, or made to order. 



